Norvic
Philatelics - Great Britain New stamps and special postmarks

Every 10 years London hosts an
international stamp exhibition, but this time it's different.
The London 2010 Festival of
Stamps
is a year long celebration of stamps, stamp design and postal heritage.
The second sheet showcases the first commemorative stamps
issued by Great Britain (the two 1924 British Empire Exhibition stamps)
and the two top values of the 1913 definitive series, the 10/- blue and
£1 green Seahorse designs.

Two previous pages are devoted
to:
the 6th
May issue of a special double-headed
Machin stamp showing
the
profile head of
King George V behind that of Queen Elizabeth II. This will be
issued as a single stamp and in a miniature sheet with a £1
King George V stamp.
the 8th
May issue of a miniature sheet
containing replicas of two 1924 British Empire Exhibition and two King
George V Seahorse stamps, a prestige stamp book and presentation pack.

For the actual stamps and comparison with De La Rue
sheet-printed
stamps, see
our
blog

No first day facilities and no special first day envelope will be
provided for this sheet as they are not new stamps.

Several obsolescent stamps will remain on philatelic sale
until after the show but are not included in the sheet:
15p, 16p, 17p, 22p, 48p, 54p, 56p, 62p, 81p & 90p; the gummed
2nd class & 1st class are also excluded, although these are
now
only available in coils.

Definitive
stamps
collectors pack.

The
low-value collectors pack will contain all the definitive stamps
still
on sale at post offices (as listed above) plus the self-adhesive
20
gramme, 40 gramme and postcard airmail stamps, the 2nd, 1st, 2nd
Large
and 1st Large NVIs, and the 1st and 1st Large Recorded Signed
For
stamps. Not shown in the publicity picture, but included
in
the pack, will be the 50p & £1 self-adhesive security
definitives.

Postal Union
Congress Facsimile Pack
Non-postally valid facsimile sheet of the 1929 PUC £1,
printed from copies of original plate, in blocks of four in a
pack.

The Pack, written by Douglas Muir, includes information on the
Congress
itself and also the design/development of the Postal Union
Congress
stamp.

Personalised
stamps were introduced to the
UK at the StampShow 2000. Smilers stamps have proved popular
with
consumers, some collectors and some dealers ever since. To
mark the 10th anniversary, Royal Mail will produce this generic
sheet
containing mixed-value stamps: 16 x 1st Class,2
x Europe 20gr, 2 x Worldwide 20gr, featuring occasions and
greetings
imagery on pre-printed labels.

We
have also been told that:

To
celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Smilers® there will be four
Instant Smilers® booths where visitors can have their photo
taken; this will be printed onto a new Smilers® Sheet, and
over-printed with the London 2010 Festival of Stamps logo.

We think this means that the personalised sheets will have the
2010
logo, not the Smilers®
labels.

London
2010
Exhibition Generic Sheet.
A new-style Exhibition sheet, self-adhesive for the first
time, with the definitive-size Hello stamp and twenty different
pictures, iconic of London, on attached labels.

Philatelic
Bulletin
booklet which
provides "a highly detailed look at many of the stamps issued
during
George V’s reign starting withthe
Downey
head."

Post
Office
Counters Ltd set up a mini-post office branch within the London
Festival of Stamps (nowhere near the Royal Mail stand).

A
Post & Go machine dispensed labels and Faststamps with a 002010
branch code, while the Horizon-equipped counter position used
Gold
Horizon labels, part of the Welsh stock. More
pictures
on our blog.

Horizon label image courtesy of Postagelabelsuk blog.

Technical
details:

Souvenir
Sheet:
Design by Silk Pearce using Jeffery Matthews’
colour palette; printed by Cartor Security Printing in lithography,
sheet size 105 x 95mm. Being litho rather than gravure as are the
counter-sheet stamps, these are all new stamps.Generic
Sheets:
Smilers Anniversary sheet designed by Hat-Trick Design,
Exhibition sheet designed by Silk Pearce; both printed by Cartor
Security Printing in lithography, sheet size 297 x 210 mm (A4).

All stamp and other images
are copyright 2010, Royal Mail.

There will be no official
first day covers for the Souvenir Sheet or the Smilers Sheets,
although collectors may prepare their own.
Postmarks are shown on the previous
page
- all except FD1023, FD1024, FD1024NP and probably L11728 may be used
on stamps on this
page..

If you wish to be told when
this page is updated, please use the
ChangeDetection panel alongside the stamps.
If you have any
questions about these stamps, please email
us.